Medical fluid flow tubing systems often employ needleless connectors, such as Luer connectors, to reduce the risk of needle stick for employees and to ensure that sealed connections are made. The female half of two mating connectors typically has a septum or silicon valve that covers, or is positioned within, a Luer tapered opening that communicates with a fluid flow path. The male connector features a tapered member having a Luer taper that corresponds to the Luer taper of the female connector with a fluid flow passage therein that communicates with an opening at the tip or distal end of the tapered male member.
Current common practice for making fluid flow connections using needleless connectors is an aseptic process where the exterior surface of the valve, diaphragm or septum of the female connector is manually swabbed with antiseptic prior to insertion of the male connector (which compresses and opens the valve). Manual swabbing requires increased vigilance and discipline by the healthcare professionals attending to a patient or carrying out the process in question. Failure to follow rigorous procedures can potentially result in microorganisms or other contaminants being inadvertently introduced into the fluid path. Even for specialized care in controlled environments, training and existing connector design cannot completely eliminate the possibility of human error for contamination when such a process is used.
Other solutions for connecting medical fluid flow tubing recognize that irradiation of connectors with ultraviolet light provides an antibacterial effect on, or sterilization of, the irradiated connector surfaces. Examples of such systems and devices are presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,788 to Kuhn et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,333 to Kuhn et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,496 to Bellotti et al. The systems and devices of these references, however, are intended for use in specialized settings with connectors of special design.
There are a variety of other sterile connection systems for joining fluid flow tubing with specialized connector systems or relatively expensive disposable components. For example, a tubing connector that employs heated wafers is known as the SCD® IIB sterile tubing welder available from Terumo BCT of Lakewood, Colo., and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,697. Other sterile connection systems may be found in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2014/0077488; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,157,723 and 5,009,446.
Accordingly, there continues to be a desire to develop advanced systems and methods for creating sterile connections.